Originally Posted by jazzgeek79

Are you in Tampa Bay? I just joined the new bike co-op in St. Petersburg. You can buy a fixer upper for $40 from their stock of donated bikes. That plus a membership (also $40) gives you access to open shop, which is on Thursday nights, and any parts they have that you need to get your bike going. Their open shop always has a trained mechanic to help when you get stuck.

full disclosure: I'm helping The St. Pete Bike Co-op fund raise.

Im pretty sure Tampa had a coop too, although I'm not sure how theirs is priced or set up.